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Pretoria - People from across race, age and creed marched through the streets of major South African cities on Wednesday in a show of solidarity against corruption.
The common message was it was time to stop talking about corruption and start acting against it.
In the Pretoria Unite Against Corruption march young and old walked from Burgers Park to the Union Buildings singing struggle songs.
Hundreds of people braved the heat in the country's capital on Wednesday.
WATCH: Anti-corruption march sweeps across SA
The marching crowd was led by ousted Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema and United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa.
They were joined by religious leaders and the Opposition To Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa).
Participants included members of the Congress of the People (Cope), National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), EFF, Solidarity and Greenpeace as well as members of the public.
Speaking on the sidelines of the march, Numsa general-secretary Irvin Jim blamed capitalism for the corruption.
"I think what is bad is the neo-liberal policies being pushed are basically in the interest of the very same class which is exploiting the working class," he said.
"We must be embarking on a consistent battle to overthrow capitalism as a system which basically breeds corruption."
He said the march was a success and there was a good turnout.
READ: Vavi on SA: ‘A kleptocracy led by thieves’ – corruption cost R700b in 20yrs
This was despite the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) trying to "sabotage" the march by not affording workers the protection to march.
Jim said the workers who were attending the march were those who worked night shift.
Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage accused the government of not doing enough to fight corruption.
"We need them to do more. Corruption is getting out of hand on their watch," he said.
Bishop Jo Seoka said the significance of the march was people were saying "enough is enough".
"They have resolved to act against corruption instead of talking.
"Money ought to be invested in development. It ought to assist in service delivery and help poor have food on the table... [It is] about time we speak out and do something about it."
He said the government was undermining its own institutions, the constitution and the Bill of Rights.
"The government is not really helpful. If there was a political will, we would be speaking a different language."
"Today we've made a small wave on the hill. [The government] should listen because small waves become big tsunamis," Corruption Watch executive director Dave Lewis said.
On a cold, wet Cape Town day thousands of people marched to parliament, joining archbishop Thabo Makgoba and other civil society groups including United Against Corruption, Right2Know, Sweat and the newly-formed Democratic Municipal and Allied Workers of South Africa (Demawusa).
READ: Private sector corruption hurting SA jobs - Numsa
Makgoba told the crowd it was time to stop talking about corruption and start acting with courage.In Durban the march got off to a slow start as metro police would not allow marchers to use a truck.
